Glossary

• embedded speech command  

  A command embedded in textual input that the synthesizer interprets and applies to the pronunciation of the spoken version.



• frequency  

  The precise indication of the number of hertz of a sound wave at any instant.



• MacinTalk synthesizer  

  The built-in speech synthesizer available in OS X v10.0 and later. (Earlier versions of the MacinTalk synthesizer were available in earlier versions of Macintosh system software.)



• phoneme  

  A distinct unit that serves to distinguish between meanings of words.



• phoneme modifier  

  A symbol defined to adjust the pronunciation of an individual phoneme. Phoneme modifiers are also called prosodic control symbols.



• pitch modulation  

  The maximum amount by which the actual frequency of speech may deviate from the speech pitch.



• prosodic control symbol  

  See phoneme modifier.



• prosody  

  The rhythm, intonation, and lexical stress in speech.



• speech attribute  

  A setting defined on a speech channel that affects the characteristics of the spoken output for a subset of voices or for all voices associated with a particular synthesizer.



• speech channel  

  A structure through which an application communicates with a specific speech synthesizer and voice. An application may have more than one speech channel open at one time, but a speech channel may not be associated with more than one synthesizer and voice at one time.



• Speech Manager  

  Obsolete term for the Speech Synthesis Manager. The Speech Manager provides a C-based API that supports extensive control over speech synthesis.



• speech pitch  

  The middle pitch of a voice, from which the actual pitches of the speech can vary with rising and falling tunes. Pitch is a combination of the average speaking frequency and its variations around that average.



• speech rate  

  The approximate number of words of text that the synthesizer speaks in one minute.



• speech synthesizer  

  A component that converts text into speech. A speech synthesizer usually contains executable code, built-in dictionaries, and pronunciation rules that help it determine how to pronounce text. A speech synthesizer may also be called a speech engine.



• speech volume  

  The average amplitude at which the speech channel generates speech.



• voice  

  A component containing data and, optionally, executable code that helps to shape the sound of the synthesized speech.